Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,595 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,136 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.74% of PriceSmart worth $20,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 131,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 654 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 9.8% during the first quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 11,485 shares of the company's stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 19.3% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 10,785 shares of the company's stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 25.8% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 782,353 shares of the company's stock worth $68,730,000 after purchasing an additional 160,656 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock traded down $1.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.67. The company had a trading volume of 197,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 201,351. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $80.27 and a one year high of $113.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14 and a beta of 0.78.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total value of $58,470.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,908 shares in the company, valued at $8,282,399.48. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.85, for a total value of $90,361.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,340,483.15. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,386 shares of company stock worth $1,063,743 in the last three months. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About PriceSmart

PriceSmart, Inc owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping warehouse clubs in the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia. The company provides basic and private label consumer products under the Member's Selection brand, including groceries, cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids, meat, produce, deli, seafood, and poultry.